Special Issue on Environmentally Friendly Technologies in Power Engineering

At present, the field of thermal power engineering is dominated by the following two main areas of development: (1) the development and implementation of new technologies using renewable energy sources; and (2) upgrading commonly used power-generation technologies by improving the efficiency of industrial equipment and optimizing operating conditions. Thermal power engineering is a vast field of study, with much research focused on the development and implementation of solutions aimed at improving the technological, environmental and economic performance of technological cycles. The scientific community has increasingly paid attention to solving environmental and energy security problems.

This Special Issue aims to collect and present breakthroughs in applied and fundamental research in the field of environmentally friendly technologies in power engineering, with the ultimate goal of the reduction of anthropogenic emissions through various approaches, including the sustainable use of fossil fuels, biomass, waste-derived fuels, and alternative energy sources.

A total of ten papers (nine research papers and one review paper) in various fields of environmentally friendly technologies in power engineering are presented in this Special Issue. Amin et al. [1] studied activated carbon produced from Lantana camara and olive trees by H₃PO₄ chemical activation using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller theory, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The TGA analysis results show that the thermal decomposition of activated carbon starts at 230 °C, but complete decomposition is achieved at temperatures above 450 °C. They also assessed the potential environmental impacts associated with the production process of coal by H₃PO₄ activation. Chemical activation was found to have the highest environmental impact, followed by the drying and grinding/sieving steps. Marchenko et al. [2] reported an autonomous power system that consists of photovoltaic converters, wind turbines, storage batteries, a biomass gasification power plant, and a diesel power plant. The capabilities of such a system make it possible to dispose of significant amounts of waste from the logging, timber processing, and pulp and paper industries. Xu et al. [3] report on the influence of various factors on the dynamic characteristics of the gas turbine rotor, which is widely used in many industries, including the energy sector. The results obtained provide a theoretical foundation for further research on the rod-fastened rotor. Klepikov et al. [4] investigated the ignition and combustion characteristics of fuel pellets produced by compressing dry coal processing waste under pressure, which is the main source of the anthropogenic emission of flue gases. They establish that adding an oil-impregnated porous polymer particle to the fuel composition intensifies ignition and combustion, whereas adding wood sawdust reduces the content of nitrogen and sulfur oxides in the flue gases by 30% and 25%, respectively. Al-Masri et al. [5] assessed the impact of different photovoltaic models for a combined solar array and pumped hydrostorage system. Solar models were evaluated in terms of solar array size, reliability, and ecological effects. The results show that the most environmentally friendly solution is to use the two-diode model, as it reduces annual emissions by 21.5198 Gg. Yu [6] presents a correlation-based anti-islanding method without depending on the frequency trip of inverter-based distributed generation. This method is the most efficient compared with the active frequency drift method with positive feedback, and is able to protect utility service personnel and power system equipment from the islanding phenomenon of distributed generation. Zaitsev et al. [7] define the light intensity levels required for the efficient conversion of peat and lignite into syngas, and evaluate the effect of fuel moisture content on the chemical composition of gas products. Syngas can serve as an inexpensive replacement of natural gas for the power industry, or as a crude material for the chemical industry. Vershinina et al. [8] evaluated the efficiency of using the following fuels: dry coal, wet coal processing waste, coal–water slurry, and two waste-derived slurries. Various criteria were used for the assessment, such as economy, social aspects, plant safety, and environmental protection. The maximum effect was achieved when using waste-derived slurry with turbine oil and coal processing waste. Using the most common types of biomass, Glushkov et al. [9] investigated the characteristics of ignition and combustion, and performed theoretical calculations of the integral environmental, economic, and energy performance indicators of fuel composition, based on coal processing waste. It was shown that the efficiency of slurry fuels with biomass is better than that of coal and filter-cake without additives. Much lower levels of anthropogenic emissions are obtained when solid fossil fuels are partly or completely replaced with slurry fuels. Pan et al. [10] considered the state-of-the-art performance investigations of green gas for grid (g3), an emerging eco-friendly insulation gas used as an alternative to sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), which can be used in gas-insulated power facilities to reduce environmental concerns. Green gas for grid is a potential alternative for electrical equipment with a drastically reduced environmental impact, while keeping the same structure, operation, ratings, and footprint of existing equipment.

Although submissions for this Special Issue are closed, more in-depth research in the field of environmentally friendly technologies in power engineering is required to address the challenges we face today, such as improving the performance of existing power-generating equipment, replacing traditional energy sources with alternative ones, and improving the technical and economic indicators of power generation.